Ruby!

Ruby’s breathing is more labored these days. She’s 12.5 years old now – and I’ve known her pretty much since she was born in the back of a Volvo in Austin, TX. She can’t walk as far or as fast as she used to, so I try and pay extra special attention to her. I bring her to barbeques with small children knowing that she’ll get to eat a hamburger or two fallen from people’s plates. I try to take her into the woods behind the house so she can swim in the creek for a few minutes. Today I watched her swimming and I remember those first summers in Austin where she would take a running jump off of a rock cliff and create an enormous splash into the deep water below. Today, she swam happily, but struggled to get out of the water with her fur weighed down with all that extra water in her fur. She came home and fell into a contented nap. Sweet girl. So lucky that we have each other…